moon in the middle of the day??

Question

ok..... so a few months ago (in ny) i saw the moon in the middle of the day... im confused cuz i think that the moon should have been on the other side of the world...... am i right??? everyone was making fun of me but nobody gave me an explanation.......so if we are seeing the moon in the middle of the day, then what are the people on the other side of the world.... like in china and australia seeing?? how does this work?

Answer 1

If you follow the moon each night, say look at the sky at 9pm each night, the moon will seem to have moved closer to the east each night. This is because the moons orbit about the earth is not exactly 28days so the moon and earth orbits appear out of sync with each other so thats why the moon is visible at daytime sometimes.

Answer 2

Starting with the full moon - A day or two before the "full moon" you will see the
moon rise just before sunset. At full moon it will rise as the sun sets, and of course
after the sun sets as the time goes on. Each night after, notice how the light on the
moon shrinks from full to last quarter and then to nothing (a 2 week time period).
Also during this time you will notice the moon "traveling" closer to the sun.
Two weeks from full moon (day may vary) look for the sliver of the moon just before sunset.
As the moon moves into NEW moon and you cannot see at all, watch for it to become noticable
as a sliver in the other direction as the sun sets. Follow the light on the moon as
it expands to first quarter and then to full. So you can actually see the moon and the sun
at the same time virtually most of the month.

Answer 3

You are right. Sometimes you can see the moon in the middle of the day. There are two things going on. First, the moon makes one full orbit of the earth every 29.2 days.
Secondly, the moon rises and sets just like the sun because of the rotation of the earth. We see the moon because of light shining on it the from the sun. At full moon the sun and moon are 180 degrees apart. This means that as the sun sets, the moon is rising. At new moon the sun and moon rise at the same time. It is hard to see the moon at this time because the bright sun keeps us from it. When the moon is in its first quarter it is seperated by 90 degrees from the sun. This means it rises at about noon. Sometimes later in the afternoon
but before sunset , there is enough light shining on the moon and enough contrast for us to see the moon.
People in other parts of the world see the moon approximately
the same as you see it. It rises and sets for them because of the earths rotation, and they see new moon or full moon because of the moon's position in relation to the sun. This relationship is the same no matter where you live. You might wonder why the moon doesn't block the sun if they rise at the same time during new moon. This is because the orbit of the moon is not
in exactly the same plane as the earths rotation. At certain times the earth and the moon are indeed lined up in the same plane and the moon blocks the light of the sun. This is called a solar eclipse. When the earth is in between the sun and moon at full moon, it is a lunar eclipse.

Answer 4

The moon can be seen during day light during its intermediate phases, or when it is not near a new moon or full moon.

This happens less often and most people don't take much notice to it. The reason you "usually" can't see the Moon or the stars is due to the brightness from the sun shining on our side of the planet, along with cloud formations.

At key times though it is possible to see the moon as clear as day. I even got a picture of it once about 10 years ago.

Answer 5

It is common for the moon to appear in the middle of the day. As the moon revolves around the earth (on an approximate 28 day cycle), it rises close to an hour earlier each day than it did the day before (and sets earlier too). As a result, it's rising time will cycle through the entire 24 hour clock cycle over the course of 28 days. So the moon is up during the day about half the time.

Today, Sept 23, 2006, for example, in Los Angeles the moon rose at 6:46am and will set at 6:21pm.

Answer 6

The full Moon is opposite the Sun, but the half Moon and crescent Moon are not. The Moon goes around Earth once a month, so it seems to catch up with and pass the Sun in the sky 12 times a year. As it does this it changes phases, being a very thin crescent early in the evening just after passing the sun, growing to a half Moon as it gets farther from the Sun and then Full Moon when it is opposite the Sun, when it rises at sunset and sets at sunrise. After full, it starts shrinking to half and crescent as it gets closer and closer to the Sun on the morning side of the sky. You can watch this behavior just by looking at it and noting the phase and its position relative to the Sun. If you do look, and think about it while you are looking, it is clear how the changing angle of illumination from the Sun causes the phases of the spherical Moon.

Answer 7

All the answers were damn good.
The moon covers 360 degrees in 27.3 days (please assume moon's orbit to be circular)
So every day, it covers 13 degrees.
Now 1 degree = 4 minutes.
So the moon rises 13*4 = 52 mins later every day.
That is why you have the many phases of the moon.
In 14 days, the moon covers 180 degrees. That is why you have alternating full and new moon every 14 days.
At full Moon, the moon rises at sunset and sets at sunrise
At new moon, the moon rises at sunrise and sets at sunset.
So it is perfectly normal to see moon during daytime.
We cannot see it normally since the sun outshines it.

Answer 8

The moon is always visible. At least when I stick it out the car window. Sorry!

Answer 9

Here is a picture I took last week:

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2202573760054937758FTSdWS

Answer 10

possible... everyday i see it. except if its a full moon... not surprising anymore... haha :)